Singapore has been trying to get people to recycle more, given that space in our one and only operating landfill - an offshore landfill in our southern waters of Singapore called Semakau Offshore Landfill - is expected to run out between 2035 and 2045. At the rate at which we generate waste currently, I would believe that Semakau Landfill can only last until 2035, which is less than 20 years from now.

According to NEA figures, people in Singapore threw away 785,500 tonnes of food last year, down from 788,600 tonnes in 2014. This is almost one-fifth of Singapore's total food consumed annually.

One area for improvement is in food waste recycling, which remains low, at 13 per cent, despite making up 10 per cent of the total waste generated here.

The recycling of domestic waste materials, such as paper, cardboard and plastics, could also be improved. The recycling rate of paper and cardboard fell by 1 percentage point to 51 per cent, and the rate for plastics fell from 9 per cent to 7 per cent. We need to ramp up recycling efforts in these areas, and encourage consumers and businesses to recycle more of their waste.


A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 16, 2016, with the headline '159,000 tonnes more waste generated'.